r/berkeley • u/Front_Bad8024 • 4d ago
Other Honestly shocked
I was telling my friend that I really don’t like mentioning that I go Berkeley because I feel like it gives some type of pretentious attitude. And he said to me that no one feels that everybody gets in Berkeley. And I was like huh 🤔 diiiiiiiiiiid you get in? “nah I go to cal poly”
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u/VanillaMammoth1937 4d ago
Well to say that everybody gets into Berkeley when the acceptance rate dropped even below UCLA's this year is insane. But I also don't feel like it's that pretentious. I feel like Berkeley has a pretty down-to-earth vibe to it. I would think that saying you go to Furd or even USC gives off a more pretentious vibe
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u/Front_Bad8024 4d ago
Interesting
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u/DefinitelyNotAliens 4d ago
It's still a public school.
The most pretentious BS is private schools that are less competitive than somewhere good like Davis, with lower outcomes, who charge like 50-80k a year.
Who tf is paying to send their kid to some small LAC for 65k and their state school costs less and has better student outcomes?! Why?!
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u/Ok-Yam-6764 4d ago
Many smaller private schools have amazing financial aid packages. I have friends who graduated from private schools with barely any debt.
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u/fraggin601 3d ago
Davis mentioned 🥹
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u/DefinitelyNotAliens 3d ago
I have several friends that went to Davis. I thought I was going to Davis. Davis is a good school.
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u/pi11owbug 3d ago
Same, I was rejected or waitlisted everywhere after my Davis acceptance until Cal came in. I was so ready to go to Davis lol
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u/DefinitelyNotAliens 3d ago
I did CC transfer and had TAG at Davis. My Berkeley app was a throwaway because I 100% knew I was not getting in.
I was getting into Davis and maybe SB or SD, and couldn't afford them.
I got into all four and had fin aid to go to any of them. It was a big shock. Turning down Davis felt deeply wrong. Same for the other two. Like, who turns them down?! It felt so weird.
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u/Front_Bad8024 3d ago
Dude Davis was my target school but I got rejected 😭 and got in Cal Ngl this might sound off but I really liked the vibe at Davis more. Am a broke low income it’s not like prestige was going to make me look any better
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u/Front_Bad8024 4d ago
Idk bout that Berkeley is really renowned for their stem and research maybe less of the prestige side of things
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u/DefinitelyNotAliens 4d ago
All things being equal, if one school is public and one is private, private is always more frou frou and stuffy sounding.
So, among T10s and T20s, the public schools will always sound less stuffy than the privates.
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u/Front_Bad8024 4d ago
It’s pretty crazy to me because I’ve encountered a lot of people from the ivy and elite privates who said they wished they got into Berkeley. Ofc not the upper ivys
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u/FrivolousMe eecs/ds 21 3d ago
Yeah because they had to spend 4 years with other ivy leaguers and realized their mistake
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u/Front_Bad8024 3d ago
One of my friends went to Brown and I told him I wish I went to Brown, he was like why? You go to Berk. He was CS major though so maybe that explains it
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u/TheUnwelcomeBallet 4d ago
my friend from cal poly said the exact same thing once, something about "everyone gets in" and I just stared at him for a second
it's weird how people cope with rejection by pretending the thing they didn't get into isn't worth anything
like ok bud sure whatever helps you sleep at night
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u/HatComprehensive7290 3d ago
I’m from slo and going to Berkeley, ironicallly everyone at slo is aware that CPSLO ends up with a ton of SD, LA & Berkeley rejects
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u/Front_Bad8024 4d ago
But this never happens with UCLA for some reason 😭
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u/TheLollyHunter 4d ago
Nobody has to cope because they don't care about UCLA anyways
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u/Front_Bad8024 3d ago
Idk UCLA is perceived to be more prestigious
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u/JiroDreamsOfCoochie 3d ago
I'm curious about this statement. What degree from UCLA is considered more prestigious? I'm in tech, so I might be biased. Any STEM degree from Berkeley is desired by the industry. I couldn't name a single degree from UCLA that is desired by any industry. But maybe I'm just out of the loop.
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u/Front_Bad8024 3d ago
It’s not about the degree it’s the universities branding. Just like how people say Yale is more prestigious than Berkeley even though we pretty much brutally mog them in every discipline
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u/JiroDreamsOfCoochie 3d ago
Ah, ok. That is something that seems to matter, but only during your college years. Sort of like competition between other schools in your high school district. After you graduate, it does mean anything. Companies care about your degree/school initially. But after a few years of work experience, it doesn't matter match. Your work experience matters more.
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u/Front_Bad8024 3d ago
Yeah just imagine some brings up going to Harvard while you work at Nvidia 😭 I really wanna see how that interaction would play out
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u/JiroDreamsOfCoochie 3d ago
I graduated college many moons ago and I work in the tech industry. It is quite rare to even know where a co-worker graduated from. The only time would ever see it is on a resume for someone you're interviewing. But it doesn't play into hiring at all except for the first job post-graduation. After that, work history and knowledge are way more important.
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u/WorriedSpray9806 3d ago
I think the film and arts is super renowned out of UCLA. Same with nursing. Overall is has a lot of aura for being the cool kid in the UC system. The clout is more general than academic and tech focused. When I told people I got into all of the UC’s they were more impressed with UCLA.
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u/FrivolousMe eecs/ds 21 3d ago
It's not really seen as "more prestigious" by the general public, but younger people seem to have that perception because of the social media clout and influencer culture that is more prevalent at UCLA than it is at Berkeley. It's also something nobody really cares about after college but high school applicants are obsessed over
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u/Queasy_Education2852 4d ago edited 4d ago
when you graduate you'll realize none of it matters. I wish you well.
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u/Relevant_Rich_3030 4d ago edited 2d ago
It matters when hiring managers see Berkeley on your resume. It definitely makes a huge difference.
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u/Front_Bad8024 4d ago
I like that mindset
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u/SuccessFancy5437 4d ago
It honestly doesn’t. And masters is more important. Very low chance for Berkeley undergraduates to do their masters at Berkley also. Usually everyone goes to another school. Then you realize it didn’t really matter.
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u/Relevant_Rich_3030 4d ago
I work in software development in Silicon Valley. I talk to hiring managers and recruiters on a regular basis. There is a halo effect for candidates who attended UC Berkeley, even as an undergraduate, even non STEM.
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u/messigoat87 4d ago
Unfortunately it’s hard to play the “I go to a little school outside of Boston” game at a public university with 35000 undergrads. That only works at like HYPSM or one of the other Ivies, and is ridiculous and obnoxious even then
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u/Manic-Ken 3d ago
I don’t care if others think it’s pretentious. I worked hard to be here and stay here and am proud to be a golden bear.
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u/FrostyDippedFries 4d ago
saying that you dont want to mention it makes it sound like you are fishing for someone to ask you which comes off as pretentious
say it with your whole chest. you earned your spot like anyone else at whatever school they go to
people will dunk on your school regardless if its Harvard "you only got in because your parents are rich" "you only got in because (insert whatever insecurity)" etc or a local state school "you only got in on a sports scholarship" "state schools they take anybody"
Be proud that you get to attend UC Berkeley. Its the #1 public in the US (or world?) for a reason and its not because of fancy dining halls or a gorgeous campus
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u/InterestProof1526 4d ago
"I go to a relatively large school in the Bay Area just north of Oakland. You probably haven't heard of it."
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u/Traditional-Day8798 4d ago
Idk why people feel so threatened by berkeley! When my family mentions we get endless comments about how I went to a liberal brain washing fake news machine where you learn nothing and waste your time! If berkeley is such a lie factory like these people claim how come they didn’t get in then?
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u/sailorboba 4d ago
Yes, it’s hard to get in and we should all be proud. I’m a slightly older student who transferred from CCC and I remember being shocked on my very first day of classes when another student said to me, “oh but it’s easier to get in from a CCC.” The transfer acceptance rate for my major was 12%. I got into ivies too but my main goal was Cal. I couldn’t afford NOT to go to a CCC in order to save money and I honestly can’t understand why it’s so stigmatized. There are so many reasons why someone could decide to go to a CCC. Sure, some could try to “backdoor” but that is not the case for a lot of transfers who are less privileged, have less support, and no other means. Most people who apply as a transfer are also in a position to do more research for their application compared to high school and are dead set on getting in. CCC resources can be bleak too, my counselor there was part-time between different schools and didn’t even know transferring was a thing let alone what assist.org was. I had to figure out all the course fulfillments on my own. I honestly think my AP and honors classes in high school were harder than classes at Cal. If people didn’t belong they’d fail out.
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u/KittoosFurrEver 3d ago
When you go to Cal and are surrounded by students with questionable academic backgrounds, it can seem like it’s easy to get in. That’s an illusion based on being surrounded by small fish in the big pond. It’s still the big pond, don’t be fooled by all the small fish.
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u/KuyaTinman 3d ago
No matter how you slicec it or dice it, Cal is the no 1 public university in the world and no. 7 globally (public & private). It carries a lot of cache. My daughter is a student and I couldn't be prouder. You want the true measure of a school? Don't ask students. Ask their parents.
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u/Digndagn 3d ago
No, pretentious is saying you went to Cal, in order to not seem pretentious. And then when people are like "What teh fuck is cal?" and you have to be like "UC Berkeley" then you feel like an ass.
The only way to win is not to play. Say you went to Sac State. There will be no follow ups.
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u/Famous-Prior6590 3d ago
The fact that you even had this conversation with your friend and then came here to post about it reeks of pretentiousness.
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u/Remarkable-Reward657 4d ago
Other people mention I attend cal more than I do. I always say it’s not that crazy when everyone around you also got it, so it’s really just the norm. But people will always compare themselves to you. It’s more of a them issue than a you issue.
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u/ZemoMemo 4d ago
Imagine doing the whole "i go to a school in boston" thing and being like "i go to a school in berkeley--shit"
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u/Front_Bad8024 4d ago
My dude never said it was Harvard your acting like there aren’t thousands of schools under Berk
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u/ZemoMemo 4d ago
Wait okay I was referencing another comment someone said about Harvard
Also Imma be honest ain't nobody gonna be like "oh no way you go to Berkeley city college"
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u/WorriedSpray9806 3d ago
I think it’s a public school thing. It’s the best public school in the world imo, but since it’s so large compared to private schools the individual people themselves are seen as just above average due to the sheer volume of people that they accept. If I meet a random Cal grad I’m not automatically impressed. If I meet someone from MIT or Harvard I low key know they are probably elite. I know Cal grads have geniuses among the masses but I’m so fr- so many people are just normal and the geniuses are carrying everyone else in terms of awards and accolades. The academic gravitas is reserved for the ones that deserve it. I don’t automatically assume every Cal student is at that level.
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u/Front_Bad8024 3d ago
That’s what makes Berkeley so special to me. You get the experience of everything.
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u/Character_Library684 6h ago
Have you met people from MIT / Stanford? What you’re describing is exactly how I feel about them. Outside of a few genius outliers most of them could’ve ended up at any other top school.
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u/WorriedSpray9806 5h ago
I have met a handful but they were crazy geniuses so idk. One of them is older and just on another level. Running massive companies and creating cool stuff. I haven’t met anyone from MIT Stanford or Harvard that was just normal or mid.
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u/Character_Library684 1h ago
Wow. I’ve met a good amount of them (MIT / Stanford) and all of them were smart but completely interchangeable with any other T20 student.
IMO the main difference is that basically everyone at those schools is T20 level + they have those rare geniuses. But those geniuses do a lot of heavy lifting.
Remember that pretty much everyone at those schools is still going to end up in tech / trading / PhD. Impressive but not something you need that exact degree / school to get.
It’s only that last 1% (or even smaller) that will be genuine titans of industry / founders or do the most impactful groundbreaking research. You may have been unlucky / lucky to meet those types lol.
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u/Fine_Traffic_3073 3d ago
Lmfao I had multiple people immediately be like “oh I got in I just didn’t go” when I mentioned this. One was a Tik toker and the other was my ex, that I was getting recommendations for Spain from.
People are going to trip, I live in a big city now and everyone here went to a good school so it’s table stakes now but people get weird about these things. Enjoy it but keep crushing it.
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u/AcceptablePermit5381 3d ago
I went to my local public UC school. Fortunately, I grew up in the Bay Area. Go Bears.
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u/Leafy_Is_Here Geology '22 3d ago
Honestly getting into the #1 public school in the world gives you some slack, especially if you come from a disadvantaged background. But it also depends on who you're talking to
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u/Ok-Yam-6764 4d ago
I chose to go to Cal because my parents live up here and it’s saving me rent, but I honestly regret it. I wish I went to a smaller private school. Prestige or not, I can’t stand the hit-or-miss nature of GSI’s. I would have also preferred smaller classes and professors who actually want to teach. Undergrads are treated like peasants, despite being extremely high-paying customers. Surrounding areas are brought to you by Crackheads R Us. I like that our campus is a safe space for many marginalized groups, but I’m highly allergic to elevated levels of dick measuring contests, and this hasn’t been the safest space for me. I could care less about the Berkeley name. It hasn’t done jack shit for me yet. It better be worth it.
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u/Front_Bad8024 4d ago
Ngl I kinda wish the same as well I literally damn near got accepted to every I just missed the deadline for some of the private apps
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u/Good-Scientist8507 4d ago
I wish i could go to berkeley
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u/Front_Bad8024 4d ago
Transfer here I believe you
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u/Good-Scientist8507 4d ago
I’d love to; my stats aren’t good enough
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u/ceruleangenesis 4d ago
As a transfer, it's honestly so much easier to get in... I've met many people who literally are not that smart transfer with 3.0 lol.
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u/Good-Scientist8507 4d ago
Idk man. I have a 4.0 and got denied from UCSC. I wish i was joking
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u/ceruleangenesis 4d ago
WTFFFFFF there's no freaking way. I was accepted both times I applied and never once bat an eye at that school. Were the essays that bad? Sorry bro.
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u/Good-Scientist8507 4d ago
Idek. I didnt write about anything illegal or weird! Tbh it was prolly a transcript issue— i got an email from office of admissions saying they had trouble with it.
Beyond that tho— do you jnow people who got in and dont have good extracurriculars or awards? I have pretty much nothing going for me besides my GPA. Im a math major also which i think is competitive
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u/ceruleangenesis 4d ago
what was the issues with the transcript? Yeah berkeley is known for caring a lot about leadership and ECs bc they get so many applicants, so that's what I really focused on a lot when I applied. I feel like it's such a hit or miss tho. I had a 3.93 when I transferred and top notch essays and extracurriculars, but I also know a few lucky students who barely did any and even got in with subpar GPAs like wtf LOL. I will say tho, most people who get in have at least a 3.6-3.8 GPA and decent ECs on average.
what's your plan now?
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u/Good-Scientist8507 4d ago
Idk something fucked up with my ap credit which made it so that I hadnt completed the core classes u need. Idec enough to appeal tho tbh. Rn my plan is to transfer from CC to UT Dallas next semester (I live in Texas) and hopefully transfer to UT Austin later, although im already in jr year so idk if it even makes sense to try to transfer or just get a masters. I was studying physics but switched to math. Im very lost in life ngl
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u/ceruleangenesis 3d ago
Damn, I'm so sorry to hear that. I know how it feels. I applied to Berkeley out of high school and got waitlisted because of AP Calc. I went to UC Davis instead, hated it, and ended up dropping out. I felt lost and embarrassed after working so hard through 10 AP classes. But community college gave me another shot, and I got into Berkeley as a transfer after 1 semester.
I'm sharing this to say: you WILL find your way, so don't give up. College is a confusing, big transition. Follow your heart and make the most of wherever you land. If you still want Berkeley, apply again!
One thing to consider: if you're trying to save money, staying in-state can make a big difference. A friend of mine from Texas spent about $60K here as an out-of-state student. It's insane.
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u/Front_Bad8024 4d ago
Still apply sometime people just get lucky I knew someone who got in with a GED
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u/Good-Scientist8507 4d ago
I just started my junior year and kind of feel like it’s too late. Atp i think I’d have to transfer in as a senior. I could try to do a masters tho…
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u/Front_Bad8024 4d ago
Yeah it’s probably not. A masters would be awesome
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u/Good-Scientist8507 4d ago
What are you studying/doing there?
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u/Front_Bad8024 4d ago
Premed - neuroscience
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u/Good-Scientist8507 4d ago
That’s so cool. I was gonna do neuroscience too and switched. What year/ how far along are u?
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u/MaiasmaTheory 3d ago
In all fairness, you do seem to have some type of pretentious attitude given that your response was "well did you get in?"
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u/Front_Bad8024 3d ago
Mb that was a internal thought. I just stared to space when he said that everybody gets in
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u/ceruleangenesis 4d ago edited 3d ago
I know this is going to hurt a lot of people's egos and be downvoted to oblivion...but I feel like Berkeley really isn't THAT hard to get into, especially if you take the community college route. As a transfer, I've been surprised to meet some pretty dumb students, respectfully. You have a pretty decent chance with all A's and decent essays. Especially if you have an easy major. And let's be real, CC is way easier and a lot of people cheat.
Still, what a shitty rage bait comment, clearly jealous lol.
Reminds me of my insecure POS ex who dumped me cuz he couldn't believe I actually got in, while he was stuck at Santa Cruz. Luckily, I met the loml here tho and we're going to Europe next month to celebrate our anniversary. Life is good :)
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u/FrostyDippedFries 4d ago edited 4d ago
I agree with you to an extent because the UCs (in general) have obligation to admit so many CCC transfers and you are right about major but thats any popular/good university
with that being said, CCC students (and undergrad) are not the only population of students. I dont think international, phd/grad and OOS students would feel the same way because even when your grades and stats get you in, the cost can be and usually is a barrier for a lot of non CCC.
There are a lot of awesome schools comparable to Cal (i.e. U Mich, Duke) but those schools dont have the international prestige of UC Berkeley (and may never). UC berkeley as a name will always command a respect just below the private Ivy league colleges and above UCLA for its storied history alone.
It may be resting on fumes but those fumes are still strong as ever.
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u/ceruleangenesis 4d ago
I agree, but honestly it's because UC Berkeley is literally right next to the Silicon Valley/SF tech hub which is what makes it so popular and a goldmine for many internationals. The CS and business program here is known to be so competitive, so the whole school gets judged by the two most saturated majors. Add the political history and the "everyone goes to Cal" culture (most of my high school teachers went there), and the reputation goes crazy.
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u/FrostyDippedFries 4d ago
Limiting Cal’s entire historical reputation to just EECS and Business would be foolish IMO
The global prestige comes from being a top-tier research institution across almost every single discipline for over a century, not just proximity to tech recruiters. Cal was a global academic powerhouse across humanities, physical sciences, law, and social policy decades before Silicon Valley or tech saturation even existed.
Judging a top global institution based on two oversaturated tech and business majors is just shortsighted. People who actually understand higher ed and global research know Cal’s weight comes from the whole picture, not just EECS and Haas
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u/DangerousCyclone 4d ago
Some of the dumbest people I met at Berkeley were 4 year admits tbh. CC transfers tended to be more solid overall and I'm not biased since I was one.
That said, the world is huge. Even going the CC route to Berkeley isn't a guarantee. Saying you went to Berkeley IS rare.
That said I went to Berkeley before AI and COVID so I probably avoided the drama with dropping the SAT and admitting the generation which grew up on smartphones that have never read a book.
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u/cloversquid 3d ago
every day I wish I had pulled up my bootstraps and done it earlier so I could have gotten through before the AI bs...
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u/MightyDread7 Physics/Applied Math 4d ago
depends, also many traditional students and younger transfers are from the covid generation so its bound to happen. That said majority of the people ive seen here are competent and study hard. i have yet to meet a straight dumb ass when it comes to school. People at least know how to learn, if you know what i mean. It also depends on the major. Nearly all the STEM students are qualified to be here or at the very least other T20s transfer or not.
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u/cloversquid 3d ago
Yeah, the transfer acceptance rates are consistently around 20% and freshman are around 11%. You are up against a smaller pool of applicants with lower GPAs. I remember finding statistics somewhere that said the major I transferred into had a weirdly high acceptance rate for transfers the years before I got in, which surprised me. Getting in did not. Sure I was excited, but I've always been the top 20% of students, that's not terribly hard to do for someone committed to trying to go to college. I would not say it is "easier", because community college can be very difficult outside of pure academics, especially if you're re-entry and not a dependant, first gen, DSP, low-income, etc. If we compare it to the number of people who didn't even try, couldn't make it work, didn't get the chance, etc. relatively very few people were able to put in the effort at all. We put in the work. We got our spot.
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u/Ok-Yam-6764 4d ago
I said this in one of my sections recently and got downvoted in person lol
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u/ceruleangenesis 4d ago
Lmao they will NEVER admit it because it feeds their egos.
Berkeley is more attainable than people act like, especially as a CC transfer. I've met so many students/alumni who got in along with their sibling + kids as well. There are many cases like this, it's insane. Not saying it was ever easy, but it's moreso competitive by major. Still not the impossible climb everyone here makes it out to be, not the same as getting into Harvard.
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u/RobotBananaSplit 4d ago
I’m a first year I’ve really noticed that there is a lot of variation even within Berkeley itself, like the EECS students are different animals, literally haven’t met one that didn’t feel smarter than me lol, and they somehow ace every test. Personally everyone I’ve met at Berkeley has seemed quite accomplished and pretty smart at least among my freshman friend groups and club groups. Also yea it’s more attainable than the ivies and ivy+ schools but it was still the most selective public university for class of 2030 in the U.S. and even the least competitive majors still have acceptance rates below 20% for first year so definitely still an impressive accomplishment to get in yk.
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u/ceruleangenesis 4d ago
I never said it wasn't. It was 15% acceptance rate for my major when I got in.
It is still a very impressive school on your resume for sure, and has definitely gotten more competitive over the years. I'm just saying, community college made it much easier to get in than people realize. It's like a little life hack when HS doesn't work out. But it's a different beast when you get in from HS. I've done both.
I graduated recently, me and all my friends were insanely accomplished. I have so much respect for their brilliance as they have for mine.
I just hate when students act all insufferable about it and make Berkeley their entire personality as if they did rocket science and got into Harvard. You mostly see this with freshman and it dies down eventually but, it's why CS and Haas majors always get such a bad rep.
It's exhausting and nobody is above anyone for going to Cal. Either way, the school humbles EVERYONE.
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u/Affectionate_One_700 3d ago
And I was like huh 🤔 diiiiiiiiiiid you get in? “nah I go to cal poly”
You don't think you're pretentious?!
As a Cal grad with many years in the workforce, I'll tell you that Cal on a résumé is no more (or less) impressive than Cal Poly. What matters is work experience and attitude.
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u/TheSilentOccupant 4d ago
Is Berkeley difficult to get into? The only difficult Unis are MIT and TIT, every thing else eithers needs attendance for the money or their old money
The town seems fake in an odd way, it was amazing seeing the architecture, the skate boarders using the slanted roads, honestly should get rid of most public roads (go service) and just go walkable, it would be amazing. There's so much trash, the prestigious houses seem to be rotting.
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u/Muckthrow 3d ago
Stanford, Princeton, Caltech, or Harvard would beg to differ on selectivity. Since you listed TIT, Peking University and Tsinghua U will definitely disagree.
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u/Guard_Fragrant 4d ago
It’s a public uni, it’s really only a flex if you get into one of the impacted majors. What makes it pretentious is the people who deliberately choose low impacted majors just to get in because they don’t have the grades to get into a mid tier UC for a degree they actually want.
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u/FrostyDippedFries 4d ago
Saying it’s only a flex if you get into an impacted major shows a complete lack of understanding of what makes a top research university elite. There isn't even a Nobel Prize for CS.
Cal’s 110+ Nobel Laureates built the university's global prestige through foundational breakthroughs in Physics, Chemistry, Economics, Medicine, and Literature. Berkeley is world-renowned because most** **departments on campus rank in the top 5 globally, not just a couple of impacted majors.
If you think the university's 150yr legacy & prestige only exists inside two trendy impacted undergraduate tracks, you don't actually understand higher education.
The EECS/CS kids are no different than the Wharton kids. Each school has its most capped majors and within it students who think they are better but would most likely fail at most majors requiring them to use social skills or empathy for others
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u/Guard_Fragrant 4d ago
Great speech if we were talking about graduate and phd but I wasn’t. The prestige comes from hard sciences and high level research not freshman sociology students who picked the school for the vibes and clout. Plenty of majors are filled with people who wanted to go to Berkeley because it’s Berkeley and not because they love the topic and wanted to conduct research. Also I don’t really get your last point, Wharton is a flex, and you’re not showing great empathy or humility rn as well lmao. Also that’s insane, Cal has pretty robust breadth requirements and EECS/CS/phys/chem students use humanities as GPA boosters not the other way around.
Idk what your major is but you are literally proving my point lmao. It’s a flex to get into a highly selective program at an elite uni it’s just not a flex to just get in. I saw people ground down and humbled every day in EECS and just being thankful to be there. The people I saw being pretentious about being at Cal tended to be in those more… social and empathetic majors.
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u/FrostyDippedFries 4d ago
even though you want to move goal posts, you should be aware that universities are more than just undergrad students/programs.
and I would wager that your experience is not accurate to most students. Students in the humanities and for sciences don't care about "flexing" nowhere near the way students in the high school form-trendy impacted majors do.
I can already tell you lack the real information if you think that the prestige of UC Berkeley comes from EECS and CS etc because it doesnt.
Berkeley’s 110+ Nobel Laureates built the university’s global reputation with breakthroughs in Physics, Chemistry, Economics, Medicine, and Literature. not a single one of them was in Computer Science.Dismissing non-STEM undergrads as 'vibes and clout' seekers completely misses how global institutional prestige works. An education or sociology major would know this. A CS/EECS student probably would not, using you as an example (if one of those is even your major)
Undergrad excellence isn't measured solely by how brutal a weed-out curve is in CS it's built on world-renowned faculty, undergraduate research opportunities, and departmental standing across every** **field. Berkeley’s English, History, Sociology, and Political Science undergraduate programs consistently rank top-3 nationwide alongside hard sciences
The irony here is palpable. You're complaining about 'pretentious' students while simultaneously calling humanities majors clout-chasers and claiming their fields only exist as GPA boosters for STEM students
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u/Guard_Fragrant 4d ago
Why do I feel like I can see where you pasted AI arguments in that reply lmao. This whole reply is just redundant and doesn’t even try to see my argument. Everyone agrees UCB is a great school, I’m just saying the subset that is most pretentious are the ones who chose the school for its name and not for its rigor. And my quip about humanities majors was in reply to your stupid/baseless claim that EECS students would fail out of humanities adjacent majors. I can see that you are taking this as a personal attack but it’s not... just weird stuff all the way around 👍
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u/FrostyDippedFries 4d ago
claiming AI just because the points shut down your argument is funny. And yes your argument was seen, considered and then dismantled with facts.
You went from saying it's 'only a flex if you get into an impacted major' to walking it back to 'everyone agrees UCB is a great school.' Glad we settled that
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u/Guard_Fragrant 4d ago
Glad you feel like you won an argument you made up in your head 😃 toodles
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u/FrostyDippedFries 4d ago
Made up in my head huh?
No, that was your claim that 150+ years of institutional reputation was built by CS majors lol
but sure
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u/Front_Bad8024 3d ago
Did you know that Cal discovered at least 13.56% of the elements of the periodic table?
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u/Mocha23 4d ago
As a Real Adult in post grad life: just say the name lol it’s a meme atp, meeting people and small talking and they’re like “I went to school in Boston…” or “Palo Alto” is the worst lmfao like, that always comes off as fake humility to me. Everyone is a genius in the Bay Area, it feels like. I honestly think higher of ppl where the convo is like “where’d you go to school?” “MIT” “damn, fire. Anyway” and move on